400m rhythm workout by John Smith

Track & Field and Athletics: #1 Sports site with latest training info for coaches and self-coached athletes
Back to Coachr.org's homepage
or use the search tool on the right

Custom Search

400 meters RHYTHM WORKOUT

By Dick Moss

The 400 metres event is difficult because it is run close to, but not exactly at, top speed. A good sense of pace and rhythm is therefore crucial. The following is a workout that John Smith, former coach at UCLA, recommends in his Sprints, Starts and Relays video to develop the correct sense of pace and rhythm in this demanding event.

The workout consists of seven repetitions of 100 metres sprints, performed at race pace with 50m jog recoveries between repetitions. The interesting aspect of the workout is that the series of 100 m will eventually take the athlete completely around the track, so the turns and straights are negotiated just as in an actual 400 m race.

The workout begins at the start of a 400m race. From this point the sprinters run 100 m at race pace. For example, if you want your athletes to reach a time of 52 sec. in 400m, they should aim to cover each 100m in 13 sec.

After the first 100m the athletes jog back 50m marked on the track and run the next 100m in 13 sec., finishing at the 150m mark. They then jog back 50m to the 100m mark and sprint to the 200m mark. This pattern continues until the athletes cross the finishing line on the final (seventh) repetition.

There are, of course variations. Early in the season, for example, you might wish to begin with a less stressful version of this workout. In this case have your sprinters start at the 100m mark, instead of the start of the 400m. This workout will now consist of five, instead of seven repetitions.

On the other hand, you can increase the difficulty of the workout for some progression. Simply speed up each 100m and/or decrease the number of repetitions but increase the length of the repetitions.

FROM: Physical Education Digest (Canada)

Recommended Resources

. . .

Related Articles:

Speed strength endurance and 400m performance

400M RHYTHM WORKOUT - a workout from John Smith

Speed Training

LOOKING_AT_100-200_AND_200-400 RATIOS: Speed Endurance vs. Special Endurance 1 VS. Special Endurance 2

TRAINING FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF MAXIMUM SPEED: FLAT RUNNING OR RESISTANCE TRAINING

Latest News from the SpeedEndurance.com

Analysis of the 3 Best 100 meter Performances Ever

9.69? 9.58? 9.63? Those three numbers can mean only one thing? Usain Bolt and the greatest 3 races we have seen in this lifetime. No argument there, though some may argue the 9.79 back in 1988 was THE greatest. Another post, another time for that discussion. Onto the research paper? A Kinematics Analysis of the [...]

Training the High School Cross Country Runner

If you are preparing for high school cross country NOW in June, then this product may be of interest to you. If you are just sending kids off to the summer to simply do mileage, and tracking that the total mileage, I can tell you this video series will benefit you and your team. Scott [...]

Repeated Sprint Training in Hypoxia Improves Speed Endurance

There is an interesting presentation on Repeated Sprint Training in Normobaric Hypoxia by Harvey Galvin (UK) at the Altitude Training and Team Sports Conference in Aspetar, Doha (Qatar) in March 2013. We know High intensity training in hypoxia can augments peripheral adaptation as well as improves endurance performance. But what about sprinting? Speed? Speed Endurance? [...]

How to Improve Your Last 100m in the 400m

I have a reader who has trained for the 400m and has seasonal PRs of 12.0 and 24.0 for the 100/200m, but recently ran the 400m in 53.8 with 200/300 splits of 25.4 and 38.6 (i.e. last 100m in 15.2) (NOTE: electronic times rounded up for simplicity in mathematical equations) At this point of the [...]

SHIN SPLINTS REDUX: May the Best Meds Win

This new series is guest blogged by Doug Logan. Doug Logan was the CEO for USATF from 2008 until September 2010. He was also the CEO, President and Commissioner for Major League Soccer from 1995 to 1999. To read more about his background and involvement in Track, Soccer, Rugby and the Music industry, read my [...]